1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to automated reporting of identification information of an appliance.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Consumer electronics manufacturers typically provide warranty cards to a purchaser of an electronic appliance, intending to use the information gathered, at least in part, to aid in identifying the electronic appliance. The warranty card typically comes pre-coded with the manufacture, model type and a serial number that was assigned to the appliance and affixed to the chassis or other structure of the appliance during production. The additional contact information provided by the purchaser on the warranty card may be used to locate the appropriate owner for example in the case of safety recalls, determining if a product is a black market good and/or a grey market good, (e.g., a product illegally manufactured and/or illegally imported from another country) and in the rare case of locating the true owner of an electronic device that was reported stolen and is later recovered.
However, consumers tend to forget and/or decline to fill out and send in the warranty the card, in part, because there is not much benefit for them in returning the warranty card, and returning the card is also not usually required in order to receive benefits under the warranty. Thus, current methods of reporting the serial number assigned to the electronic appliance and identifying such appliances are minimally effective.